We are using cookies to improve your user experience. To continue using this website please accept that we are storing and accessing cookies on your device. To learn more about how we handle and process personal data, please see our Privacy policy.

How we address the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a common and necessary roadmap for the business sector. By integrating sustainability in strategies, we explore business opportunities that help create a better future for people and the planet.

Yara was actively engaged in the development and promotion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Alongside the Paris agreement, the SDGs form part of the framework for our long term strategic processes.

All 17 goals are relevant to our activities, but some are more material than others. Our knowledge, products and solutions make us particularly well positioned to help improve agricultural productivity. This in turn supports food security and farmer profitability, and reduces pressure on resources and the environment.

Growth in agriculture is more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors, becoming a vehicle for rural growth. This is a cornerstone of our engagement towards value chains and smallholders, not least in Africa.

AR: pp. 6, 19GRI: p. 20

Yara’s mission is to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Our knowledge and solutions contribute to food security. In 2017 we continued our global engagement on the topic and stepped up innovation efforts.

AR: pp. 6, 19GRI: p. 20

Ensuring a safe working environment is a top priority in Yara, and we provide health services to the majority of our employees. Offerings from our Industrial segment help reduce harmful emissions, while our own performance on emissions is guided by the precautionary approach in the HESQ Policy.

Yara’s goal is to equip all employees with the skills and competencies they need to be successful in their jobs. We value the diversity of our workforce and are committed to promoting equal opportunities.

AR: p. 17GRI: p. 31

Yara is committed to promoting equal opportunities. All business segments have defined gender diversity ambitions for 2020, both for the overall workforce and for management positions.

AR: p. 17GRI: p. 31

Water-use efficiency is a key topic on our R&D activities, which includes research to increase nutrient use efficiency and minimize loss of nutrients to waterways. In 2017 we introduced the Yara Water Solution, to manage farms’ water and fertilizer needs under water-scarce conditions.

AR: p. 19GRI: p. 26

Most of Yara’s ammonia plants have been upgraded in recent years to improve energy efficiency. On average our ammonia plants perform better than the world average and the most efficient of them rank among the best quartile in the industry.

AR: pp. 6, 20GRI: pp. 15, 26

Yara is committed to respecting internationally recognized labor and human rights throughout our own operations and in our supply chain. We subscribe to the principles of sustainable agriculture and support job creation and inclusive growth in agricultural value chains.

AR: p. 19GRI: pp. 31, 37

Yara’s innovation efforts include developing sustainable production processes. Through value chain partnerships we help farmers, not least in Sub-Saharan Africa, get access to credit, knowledge, input, infrastructure and well-functioning markets.

AR: pp. 6, 18GRI: p. 15, 20

Yara collaborates with public and private partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America to support sustainable intensification of agriculture and inclusive growth in rural communities. Our commitment to respecting labor and human rights includes our supply chain.

AR: p. 19GRI: pp. 20, 37

Yara’s environmental solutions reduces harmful emissions to air from transport and industrial applications, and helps control odor from the toxic gas H2S.

AR: p. 18GRI: pp. 9, 12

Yara’s Crop Nutrition solutions support higher agricultural productivity and improved resource use in agriculture, particularly of land, water and nutrients. We are actively developing circular economy opportunities.

Yara has a leading industry position on greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement and climate-smart agriculture. We have cut our GHG emissions by half since 2004, and can reduce the carbon footprint of crop production significantly.

AR: p. 6, 20GRI: pp. 12, 26

Yara promotes Precision Farming, which includes research on how to improve nutrient use efficiency in agriculture – also preventing losses from the field to the air and waterways.

AR: p. 17GRI: pp. 12–13, 20, 26

The demand for more food can be met on existing farmland. Our crop nutrition solutions and knowledge can help realize higher yields, which will be necessary to halt land degradation and land use change.

AR: pp. 6, 20GRI: pp. 12–13, 15

Yara is dedicated to responsible business conduct throughout our operations and activities. Our stance on topics such corruption, competition and human rights are described on our Code of Conduct, which was last updated in January 2018.

AR: pp. 22, 46GRI: pp. 15, 37

Yara engages extensively in dialogues related to major global challenges and international policymaking. By embracing sustainable business models, global business can thrive while at the same time contributing to more inclusive societies.